Both houses of the Russian parliament have approved a bill that allows for the sacking of regional governors and city mayors if ethnic or religious tension leads to open conflict.

The bill was passed by the State Duma in the second and third
reading on Tuesday and approved by the Federation Council on
Wednesday. Most Russian media noted that the speedy movement of
the bill took place on the light of the ethnic riots that took place in the Biryulyovo district
of Moscow over the weekend. However the bill was drafted in
February this year and approved in the first reading before the
Biryulyovo events.

The bill lists the obligatory responsibilities of the executives
in the regions. They are measures to provide guarantees of
equality of all people regardless of their race, ethnicity,
language and religion. The heads of the regions also must protect
minorities, ensure the integration of migrants, prevent ethnic
and religious conflict and maintain inter-ethnic accord.

The document also introduces personal responsibility for regional
officials and allows for the sacking of heads of regions, cities
and towns if they allow breaches in state guarantees of ethnic
and religious equality.

When the bill was presented to the State Duma, the chairman of
the All-Russian council of self-governing bodies, MP Vyacheslav
Timchenko (United Russia) told parliamentarians that the number
of peoples and ethnic groups in the country was over 180 and the
number of conflicts between them was growing. “Small-scale
incidents between a limited number of people inside municipal
communities happen almost daily,” Timchenko added.

Official representatives of traditional religions welcomed the
move. The Russian Orthodox Church, the Council of Muftis and the
Congress of Jewish organizations all called the bill timely and
useful.

However, the move has already met some opposition from the
regional authorities. The head of the internal Russian Republic
of North Ossetia, Teimuraz Mamsurov, told the Interfax news
agency that it was usually difficult to establish if the grounds
for conflicts were purely ethnic or religious. The official said
that blaming governors for such problems was a natural reaction
of the people but added that it reminded him of the complaints
that were voiced in Chelyabinsk Region where locals claimed the
authorities should have foreseen and prevented the meteorite
strike.